Share your Soldering Tips Here

[rickstar009]

Thanks for all the yummy soldering tips guys they come in handy as i have to repair my PSP shoulder button, it came off and it looks like a solder job is in order, i am a novice at this so wish me luck....i will probably do more harm than good to my PSP but i have to start some where if i am to become an experttielle at it.

By the way what is a heat sink clip? and where do i obtain one, please~Rick

[tdstrike]

"By the way what is a heat sink clip? and where do i obtain one, please~Rick"
use an alligator clip attached to whatever you're soldering, it will draw away some of the heat and avoid damage to small parts, like the lil silicon ring around the positive connector of an atty.

[rickstar009]

Originally Posted by tdstrike

"By the way what is a heat sink clip? and where do i obtain one, please~Rick"
use an alligator clip attached to whatever you're soldering, it will draw away some of the heat and avoid damage to small parts, like the lil silicon ring around the positive connector of an atty.

ahhhh, ok i think i know what your on about strike ....alright then, well ta! for that, i know exactly! what to use now! so in order to protect the circuitry around the shoulder button from excessive heat~Ricky

[rickstar009]

I just fixed my PSP and who ever said soldering was hard and needs to be mastered obviously has the IQ of dirty Lol (JK)

It was rather easy an simplistic, i tinned the joints and warmed them up first then placed the broken parts back in my PSP and put a little solder on every metal joint, i then finshed it off with a little hot glue to secure and reinforce everything.

I will take some snap shots when i can so some of you professional solders can tell me if i did it properly.

looks like Rick has some hidden talents heh heh



(Sorry if i am abit off topic, just wanted to share my triumph)

[framitz]

One more tip:

My soldering station is a 35 year old Weller. It was kept on for at least 8 hours a day and sometimes over a weekend back in the mid 70's (I was a TV and consumer electronics technician back then). It currently has a tip that is over 30 years old and is still in perfect condition today.

Just before shutting down your soldering iron or station be sure to clean the tip (I use a damp sponge) THEN put a good coat of solder on it to seal out air. The next time you turn it on just wipe the tip clean, re-tin and you are good to go.

[seminolewind]

That's a good idea. I did it the last time I soldered. Probably helps the soldering iron work much better

[SLDS181]

This isn't about soldering in itself, but related nonetheless.

You have two hands. One will be using the soldering iron. The other has the solder.

Seriously, google "Helping Hands". Many know to get something like this to clip and hold your project, but alot of people don't. They are less than $10 in most cases, and will hold your soldering iron.

Also, if you've got a messy job in front of you, and you know you can do better.....

Warm it up, take the old solder off, and do it again. Its easier to redo it when everything is already apart. If its a bad solder job, you're just going to have to do it later anyway.

[rbonie]

Originally Posted by mnealtx

1. Tin your wires and connectors.

2. Use stranded wire, if you can - it holds up to movement/vibration better.

3. Make your mechanical connections first, THEN solder

4. Ideally, you should be able to see the shape of your wire within the solder, not a huge blob. Look at the 'lap splice' picture, here - see how the shape of the wire is visible through the solder join? That's what you want.

5. Use the highest heat and shortest time on the join that you can. You get a better flow of solder and less chance for a cold join due to movement.

New solderin iron.. practicin.. can't get iron to "tin" Seems I remember it "coating the tip". This just beads up. Bad iron? or clutz behind it?

[mnealtx]

Try getting some flux paste and dipping the hot tip in it. If that doesn't work, VERY lightly scuff the tip with some sandpaper - you just want to rough up the factory tinning a tiny bit, not remove anything.

[override]

Originally Posted by framitz

One more tip:

My soldering station is a 35 year old Weller. It was kept on for at least 8 hours a day and sometimes over a weekend back in the mid 70's (I was a TV and consumer electronics technician back then). It currently has a tip that is over 30 years old and is still in perfect condition today.

Just before shutting down your soldering iron or station be sure to clean the tip (I use a damp sponge) THEN put a good coat of solder on it to seal out air. The next time you turn it on just wipe the tip clean, re-tin and you are good to go.

Everything you said is great and useful information, although you should keep one thing in mind, your soldering station/pencil and tip are 30+ years old. At that time soldering tips were still being made with Lead Cores.

Tips of todays world are generally made with a copper core surrounded by iron. Hence the term "iron clad" tips. The damp sponge method works well with these tips when your doing alot of small, tedious work that requires no or very little solder on the tip, such as modding systems, where you need to add RGB to the Video chip or L/R audio to an A/V port etc, but is not recommended as a preferred cleaning method.

The tips don't respond well to constant and intense fluxuations to heat changes. Therefor constant tinning of the tip (using tip tinner/cleaner) is not recommended. Instead using brass wool, or a brass wire brush to clean the tip works very well, I generally use a tip tinner/cleaner every so often or on the intial breakin of a new tip. When you use your station right before your going to turn off your iron, brush it with the wire brush, then flood it with your solder. Let it cool, when you comeback to use it again, simply heat it up and clean it with the wire brush to knock off the solder you previously flooded it with, then apply a small amount of solder to each side of the tip and start your work. Repeat this process to keep the tip cleaned and ready for use! It helps to have a soldering station (I personally use an APE or XYtronic supertemp station) Using flux is a great practice, to simply explain it, Flux helps your solder go where you want it and not stick to your tip or other unwanted surfaces, it also allows your solder to flow much better with less heat! Although a prolonged (3 seconds or so) amount of heat with or without flux is and can be helpful to allow your solder to flow where you want it and to make good connections especially on thru hole products.

Keep in mind that generally the heat from your iron wont damage a PCB or Chips as long as your gentle, when PCB's are manufactured they always go through cleanign and heating process that is far greater than that of the temp used to melt your solder. Me personally I dishwash all the boards I work on and repair, then stick them in the over @ 117 degrees for 15 mintues, they will come out dry as a bone and ready to plug into any power source without the chance of an electric surge.

Another thing I have noticed several people say is to use sandpaper or an abrasive material to clean your tip or dipping your tip straight into flux....THIS IS SOMETHING YOU NEVER WANT TO DO...When you use something that abrasive your literally ruining your tip. Also flux IS corrosive. The iron clad material that surrounds the tip is very very thin, when you use sandpaper your removing that protective coating and allowing the copper center to be exposed, you WILL quickly burn up your tip.

Another tip for small and cheap based irons (such as radioshack etc) or well any iron for that matter, try not to bang it around, drop it, etc the ceramic core inside the iron is very sensitive and easily damaged. Try also to not leave your iron on for an extended amount of time without actually using it for something.

Originally Posted by rbonie

New solderin iron.. practicin.. can't get iron to "tin" Seems I remember it "coating the tip". This just beads up. Bad iron? or clutz behind it?

Refer to the above I just wrote out, you can also refer to google search engines for alot of useful information! I mod/repair older gaming systems on the side so I tend to solder quite often. Here is a great source of information on keeping your tips cleaned and well maintained, aswell good source of info on different grades and types of solder to use. Hope all this information helps!